Deceived
Page 1
To the people of Ireland—
Thank you for making my visit to your beautiful island extraordinary.
Deceived
(Whiskey Nights #3)
Cade and Seren’s story
by
Suzannah Daniels
Copyright © 2015 by Suzannah Daniels
Cover Art by Louisa Maggio @ LM CREATIONS
http://lmbookcreations.wordpress.com/
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to any person, living or dead, events, businesses, or places are coincidental and not intended by the author. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are used fictitiously or are conceived from the author’s imagination.
First Electronic Edition: August 2015
Deceived (Whiskey Nights #3) / by Suzannah Daniels
www.SuzannahDaniels.com
To my valued readers:
Thank you for purchasing DECEIVED, Whiskey Nights #3!
I hope you enjoy the WHISKEY NIGHTS series, and I hope you’ll come back to the small town of Creekview, Tennessee, with me in Whiskey Nights #4 (title and release date to be announced).
To keep updated with my new releases, please join my email list.
With much love,
Suz
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Dry Shite
Chapter 2 Snog
Chapter 3 Irish Whiskey
Chapter 4 Luck of the Irish
Chapter 5 Emerald Isle
Chapter 6 Kiss Me Arse
Chapter 7 Kiss Me, I’m Irish
Chapter 8 Cliffs of Moher
Chapter 9 Blarney Stone
Chapter 10 Ossified
Chapter 11 Bucketing Down
Chapter 12 Donkey’s Years
Chapter 13 St. Patrick’s Day
Chapter 14 Craic
Chapter 15 Eejit
Chapter 16 Murder Hole
Chapter 17 Leprechaun
Chapter 18 Barney
Chapter 19 Steever
Chapter 20 Banjaxed
Chapter 21 Wean
Chapter 22 Now You’re Sucking Diesel
Chapter 23 Arseways
Chapter 24 Bolloxed
Chapter 25 Gobsmacked
Chapter 26 Brilliant
Chapter 27 Handfasting
Author’s Note
Acknowledgements
Books by Suzannah Daniels
About the Author
Chapter 1
Dry Shite
Seren
A soft sigh escaped my lips. Taking a sip of my Pear Martini, I gazed at the opposite side of the bar and watched Cade Mayfield converse with James Hawkins, who was better known as Hawk. They’d graduated from high school together, and since neither of them had left to go to college, they had remained close friends.
I, on the other hand, had only been back in Creekview, Tennessee, a few months, the proud owner of a college degree in accounting. I hadn’t been one of those students who could pay attention in class, rarely crack open my book, and still ace all my tests. I’d worked my ass off to keep my grades up, and my social life had suffered because of it. I had dated casually, but I hadn’t allowed myself the luxury of allowing any of my relationships to become too serious. Maybe because I feared failure.
College graduation had not only checked off one of my goals in life, but it had also boosted my confidence, made me feel as if I could decide what I wanted and go after it until I owned it.
But now that I’d survived the arduous journey of a college education, I was determined to have a little excitement before life hooked its talons in me. I needed a debit to my credit, someone to balance my ledger of life, someone I could share my experiences with before I found a job and spent the next forty years chained to a desk with no hope of parole. And if I was completely honest with myself, I hoped that this someone wanted to share everything with me, that this someone would be an important part of my life.
“The seat next to him opened up. You should go.”
Turning my head toward Lexi Swafford, my best friend and co-owner of Whiskey Nights, the bar in which I now sat, I pursed my lips as I considered her suggestion. “I kind of like just watching him.”
“But if you go sit beside him, you can actually talk to him,” she countered, pushing a wave of dark hair over her shoulder.
“I talk to him all the time. I need to figure out a way to wow him,” I said, my eyes remaining on him as I appreciated the bulge of muscles beneath his shirt.
“Who are you wowing, love?” a deep masculine voice asked.
I turned to see Mason Cambridge lean over the bar and give Lexi a quick kiss on the lips. He was the bartender, as well as the other co-owner of Whiskey Nights. I stared at Lexi, widening my eyes in an effort to say something without saying something.
“Mason, you can’t interrupt girl talk,” Lexi gently admonished him, shooing him away with a flick of her hand.
He shot her a lopsided grin, dimpling his cheek. “Well, now I’m intrigued.” He leaned against the bar, watching us intently with amber eyes. “I’m pretty sure I could school the two of you on how to wow a guy.”
Lexi narrowed her dark eyes at her boyfriend. “Are you suggesting I don’t already know how to wow a guy?”
Mason laughed and lifted his hands in surrender, the movement causing his tawny hair to brush against his shoulders. “I’m going now, but I am interested in testing your theories later.”
Once he was out of earshot, I lamented, “I wish I could test my theories on Cade.”
“You can’t test anything if you’re sitting on the opposite side of the bar.” Lexi gave me a quick hug and stood. “I’ve got to get back to work.”
I stood, too, picked up my drink, and walked around the bar. As I slid in beside Cade, he turned toward me.
“Hey, Flanagan. ‘Bout time you came over here to be social.”
He had noticed me. That was a good sign.
“So you can be the tie-breaker,” Cade said while looking at his phone. “Which scenario would you choose? Stranded with a strange guy on a deserted island or handcuffed to a strange guy while escaping the mafia?”
“Definitely escaping the mafia. There’s nothing exciting about a deserted island.”
Hawk pointed at me. “Now that depends on the island.”
“And who you’re with,” Cade added.
I shook my head. “Nope. I have to go with being handcuffed to a strange guy while being chased by the mafia.”
Cade took a swig of beer and set it on the coaster. “That’s what I picked.”
I grinned. “You wanted to be handcuffed to a strange guy, too?”
He turned his head in my direction and frowned. “I hope you know me better than that.” His eyes roved over my body, and a shiver of excitement tingled down my spine.
He thumbed in Hawk’s direction. “Lover boy over here picked the island.”
“What was the question?” Mason asked as he approached with two bottles of beer and set one down in from of Hawk and the other in front of Cade.
“You want another martini?” he asked me.
I shook my head. “I’m good.”
“The question,” Cade said, reading from his phone, “is whether you’d rather be stranded on a deserted island with a strange woman or be handcuffed to a strange woman while escaping the mafia.”
Mason stretched his arms out and leaned against the bar, his hands cupping the edge of it to support his weight. “Okay, I’m going to substitute the strange woman with Lexi,
and then I’m going to have to pick the deserted island. My girl happens to like the beach.”
Cade turned to look at me. “I see a pattern here. All my friends have gone soft since they’ve attached themselves to women.”
“The deserted island is so predictable,” I said. “Where’s your sense of adventure, Mason?”
Mason beamed. “I’m thinking about my sense of adventure. That’s why I picked the deserted island. It’ll be a lot more fun, not to mention we’d have a better chance of…oh, I don’t know—surviving.”
“How do you know there’s any fresh water on the island?” Cade asked.
“Yeah,” I agreed, holding my index finger in the air, “or food for that matter. Maybe you and Lexi will be stranded on an island with no foliage—nothing but sand and salt water and blistering heat. How long do you think you’d survive then?”
“He’d last just as long as he would if the mafia was after him,” Hawk intervened.
“I guess we’ll never know,” Mason said. “The most dangerous thing I have to worry about is keeping all these customers happy. Duty calls.” He pushed off the edge of the bar and made his way to the opposite side to take a drink order.
“It’s sad, isn’t it?” I asked.
“What’s that?” Cade studied me with eyes that reminded me of nature in autumn, a muted green the color of junipers with flecks of brown. Knowing his love for the outdoors, I thought the color suited him well.
“Most of us spend our lives doing the same boring thing day after day. Well,” I added, gazing down the bar at Hawk, “except for our firefighter friend down there. I guess being a first responder isn’t too boring.”
“It has its boring moments,” Hawk said, “but in my line of work, a boring day usually means everyone else is having a good day—and that’s definitely not a bad thing.”
“Yeah, I can’t say working at the gym is overly exciting. I like it, but it’s definitely predictable.” Cade scooted his empty beer bottle to the back of the counter and took a swig of the beer that Mason had left him. “What I really want to do is buy some property and be a hunting guide. Maybe someday even open a lodge.”
“That would be perfect for you,” I said, knowing how much Cade enjoyed hunting and fishing. Even now, he wore a camouflage cap backward, its bill angled toward his nape.
“I’ve been working on my résumé,” I said, thinking about life in general. “It’s about time for me to join the real world. I want to do something exciting before I get a nine-to-five.”
“Make it happen, Flanagan.”
I glanced at Cade as he took another sip of beer, his muscles flexing with the movement. His Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed, and I thought about his words. He made it sound simple enough. Could it really be that easy?
I didn’t want to be a bore, a dry shite. I wanted to be spontaneous before being sucked into the routine world of the working.
And what could I do to add excitement to my life?
The one thing I really wanted was a relationship with him.
Noticing something whizzing toward me, I ducked. Cade leaned sideways, his hand shooting out behind my head while his other hand grabbed my arm. Tingling sensations cascaded down my spine at his touch, and the sudden movement caused his cologne to waft through the air. I breathed deeply, reveling in his scent.
Mason stood a few feet away grinning as Cade righted himself, a small stress relief ball in his hand.
“Good to see you still have quick reflexes,” Mason joked.
“Too bad your aim sucks,” Cade shot back. “I almost took out Flanagan trying to catch your pathetic throw.”
Mason laughed, and for the briefest moment, I wondered if he knew I was attracted to Cade and had done it intentionally. Part of me wanted to thank him, and the other part of me wanted to hurl Cade’s empty beer bottle at his head.
“Are y’all staying after closing?” Mason asked. “Hawk and Amber will be here.”
Cade glanced in Hawk’s direction. “You’re staying out late on a work night? Did Mason slip something in your drink?”
“What’s wrong?” Hawk asked. “Afraid you can’t keep up with me?”
Cade barked out a laugh. “I’m afraid you’ll fall asleep at the bar, and we’ll have to carry your ass to the car.”
Hawk stood and slapped Cade on the back. “You can rest easy. I’m on vacation the rest of the week. Amber and I are going over some wedding details. We may even head to Gulf Shores. Amber wants to go over some things with her mom.”
“You’re really going to do it, huh?”
“Not only am I going to do it, I’m looking forward to it.” He waved. “Amber and I will be back in a bit.”
***
Mason slapped his hands together after the last few patrons had left the bar. “Closing time. Lock the doors.”
Lexi flipped the lock, and then turned around, a huge grin on her face as she hurried in our direction. “It’s been way too long since we’ve all gotten together. This is going to be so much fun!”
“How’s that?” Cade asked. “We playing strip poker?”
“Hell, no,” Mason retorted. “The last thing I want to see is you as naked as the day you were born. Besides,” he continued, tucking Lexi into his side and kissing her lightly on the temple, “this is all mine.”
“We set a date,” Hawk announced from his perch on a barstool that faced the open room, his hand resting possessively on Amber’s knee.
“When?” Lexi asked, jumping up and down in her enthusiasm, her long dark tresses bouncing around her slender shoulders.
“October twenty-fourth,” Amber blurted. “I know it’ll be here soon, but it seems so far away.” She gazed at Hawk, and I could see the adoration in her eyes. “We’re not sure where the wedding will be yet. We might have a destination wedding.”
Cade and I had turned our barstools to face the room, too, and we were in a semicircle with Hawk and Amber as Mason and Lexi stood in the open gap. I stole a glance at Cade as the knowledge that I was the only female in the room without a significant other washed over me. His eyes were focused on Amber as she spoke, and I studied his profile, his straight nose and angular jawline, his broad shoulders. He still wore his cap backwards, and for some reason, I found it sexy. Everything about him oozed masculinity, and when he was near, everything feminine within me, from emotions to body parts, perked up in appreciation.
He turned to face me, his grin melting me as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I could feel his heat through my long-sleeved top. “I wonder how long it will be before Mason and Lexi tie the knot, too,” he said softly, so that only I could hear him.
I shrugged my shoulders. “She doesn’t really talk about getting married. I think they have their hands full with the bar right now.”
“This is cause for a celebration,” Lexi announced. “Let’s dance.”
She turned on the sound system, which they rarely used during normal business hours. As music pumped over the speakers, she grabbed Amber and started dancing. Mason took Amber’s seat as Lexi motioned for me to join them. Smiling and rolling my eyes, I dislodged myself from the stool and danced over to them. Hawk and Mason were chatting now, their heads bent toward each other, so they could hear.
As I swayed to the beat of the music, I turned my head and found Cade leaning back in the stool with his arms folded behind his head, his muscular biceps even more noticeable in this position than normal. His feet were positioned on the footrest, causing his knees to jut upward. I had expected him to converse with Hawk and Mason, but he didn’t appear to be interested in their conversation in the least. His attention was focused on me, and as his eyes locked with mine, heat burned my face as I looked away. When I worked up the nerve to look at him again, the moment was gone. He laughed at something Hawk said, and I wondered if I had imagined the intensity of his gaze.
When a soft voice started crooning a love song over the speakers, Lexi squealed, “This is my favorite song. Mason!” She motioned
for him to come to her.
“I’m coming, love.” Mason pushed himself off the stool and took Lexi in his arms. She immediately laid her head against his shoulder, and he leaned down and brushed a kiss against her hair.
As I made my way to my barstool, I passed Hawk as he gathered Amber in his arms.
I plopped down on the stool, thinking how awkward being the odd couple out could be. Cade stood and held his hand out to me. “It’s my duty as a man to make sure the prettiest woman here has a dance partner.”
I cracked a smile. “Your duty as a man?”
He grinned and tipped his chin down at me. “That’s right. What kind of friend would I be if I let you sit this one out?”
I placed my hand in his, noticing the size difference as his hand seemed to engulf mine. He radiated heat, and I wondered how he could consistently stay so warm despite the fact that it was the middle of winter.
When his arms encircled me, I closed my eyes as he gently pressed his cheek against my temple, his five o’clock shadow rough against my skin. I’d known Cade since we were both in elementary school. During the last few months, we had talked often at Whiskey Nights, almost daily. I knew he loved virtually anything that had to do with the outdoors, and I knew he hated shrimp. I knew it had been hard on him when his hunting dog died a few months back, and I knew her name had been Winnie, short for Winchester. I knew he was highly competitive, and I knew he preferred talking on the phone to texting—not that I’d done either of those things with him.
But one thing I hadn’t known until now was how it felt to be in his arms.
And it was incredible.
I wanted to commit everything about this moment to memory, his heady scent, the security I felt, the way I wanted to snuggle into his chest and stay there forever.
His fingers splayed out against the base of my spine, sending a jolt of awareness through my body. In response, I pressed in closer.
But even though I was consumed by euphoria, I hadn’t missed the fact that he had referred to us as friends, and I wondered if he could ever think of me as anything more.